








































Roman Catholic


36

Roman Catholic
David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California, Convener
Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology, Secretary

MEMBERS PRESENT

• Jennifer Bartholomew, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of 
Theology*

• Jessica Boyer, Mount St. Mary’s University
• Stephanie Garrett, Catholic Distance University
• Kathy Harty, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology
• Barnaby Hughes, Atla**
• David Kriegh, Saint Mary’s College of California
• Alan Krieger, University of Notre Dame
• Brian Morin, Mt. Angel Abbey
• Philip O’Neill, Barry University**
• Ann Owen, Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology**
• James Pakala, Covenant Seminary (Emeritus)**
• Betsy Polakowski, St. Paul Seminary**
• Arthur Quinn, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary**
• Derek Rieckens, Chicago Theological Union
• Dora Rowe, Union Presbyterian Seminary*
• Connie Song, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology
• Stephen Sweeney, St. John Vianney Seminary*
• Kris Veldheer, Catholic Theological Union*
• Alexis Weiss, Loyola Marymount University**
• Deb Winarski, Catholic Theological Union**

* - in person only
** - online only

AGENDA

I. Opening prayer: Connie Song

II. Review of 2021 Minutes

• No changes or corrections



Denominational Group Reports  37

III. Welcome and introductions

IV. Old Business

A. Presentation Roundup

• While no one from the group gave a presentation 
this year, staff from the University of San Diego and 
Catholic University presented on Catholic topics.

B. Atla LibGuide Project

• There is not currently much denominational content 
in the Atla LibGuides. Several resources were sug-
gested, including the CRRA subject guides and the 
Harmless bibliographical site. Christine Fruin is the 
contact at Atla for the guides. 

• Brian Morin will contact Christine Fruin about de-
tails of the project.

• Stephanie Garrett will receive links sent from mem-
bers’ currently-existing guides to include in the Atla 
guide, as a type of clearinghouse. Send your links to 
sgarrett@cdu.edu.

C. Core Print Analysis

• This is a continuing item of interest, but a very large 
project.  There is potential funding from Atla for 
such a project. 

• Update: After the virtual meeting Kris Veldheer sent 
a written update about using GreenGlass from OCLC. 
Due to staffing issues, pending retirements, and a 
lack of pricing information, a pilot test of GreenGlass 
has been shelved by CTU.

D. Catholic Library Association Update

• Kathy Harty is the CLA/Atla liaison. 

• The call for proposals for the fall conference has 
been sent to the listserv, but members are encour-
aged to submit proposals. 

• The conference theme is “Catholic Libraries: A Heal-
ing Presence in the Church’s Field Hospital”.

• Those at smaller libraries in particular are encour-
aged to submit, as they may have practices or expe-



38    ANNUAL Y E ARBOOK

riences useful to CLA members.

• If anyone is looking for publishing opportunities, 
contact the CLA office about doing book reviews: 
cla2@cathla.org.

• CLA is encouraging library school students to join 
and to become active members. If you know any 
library students, please encourage them to join. 

E. CRRA Update

• A written update was submitted prior to the meet-
ing. 

• Highlighted points include: an upcoming webinar on 
the Catholic Portal in the fall, most likely November.

• Email invites will go out this summer – keep an eye 
out for yours. 

• Topics will include a brief history, content, scholarly 
use of the portal, among others.

• Jennifer Younger will be retiring as the director this 
summer. The executive board is working on her suc-
cessor.

• There is now a set record in OCLC for the Catholic 
News Archive, allowing linkage to the content. This 
repository continues to grow and thrive.

F. Origins

• As mentioned at the last meeting, Origins News Ser-
vice ceased publication. It was a valuable resource 
for less-well-known documents and statements, as 
well as a clearinghouse for news items.  

• There is interest in any other sources that may serve 
as a partial replacement. 

• In addition, Atla indexers have not been receiving 
l’Osservatore Romano. They recently changed their 
U.S. distributor. If anyone has issues they would 
like to donate for indexing, please contact Barnaby 
Hughes, bhughes@atla.com.

• David Kriegh and Brian Morin will follow-up with 
EBSCO and other contacts.



Denominational Group Reports  39

G. Atla Communities Site

• The upcoming site will replace some of the list-servs 
and provide a new way for groups to keep in contact 
and work together. 

• Anticipated launch is early Fall. 

• More details will be coming from Atla.

V. New Business

A. Call for proposals

• If anyone is interested in creating a presentation 
for next year’s conference on the new PPF6 and 
whole-person formation, please contact Kathy Harty, 
kharty@shsst.edu.

VI. Transitions 

• See “Round Robin Reports” section below

VII. Closing prayer: Stephanie Garrett

YEAR IN REVIEW

For our in-person meeting, noting that we had not met in person 
in three years, we deemed it best to ease back in with a simple 
round of introductions and updates to get reacquainted. We dined 
in small groups the previous night, as many of us planned to watch 
the Orioles immediately following the meeting.

Anticipating that our in-person meeting in Baltimore would be 
small and informal, our group business meeting was held online on 
June 29, 2022 to allow for broader participation. Most of the time 
was devoted to following up on old business from our previous 
online gatherings. A couple Catholic-focused presentations were 
noted, and we felt that the hybrid format provided an opening to 
our Catholic colleagues to attend in the future, and us regulars to 
think more about presenting. There was renewed enthusiasm for 
creating a resource for researching Catholic content within the 
framework of Atla’s LibGuide format. There are a number of ques-
tions about how this can be properly expressed in its proper con-
text and representatives of the group will be reaching out to Atla 
to develop a strategy. However, the notion of developing a shared 
print project among the Catholic seminary libraries has lost some 
steam as many members report they lack the resources and band-
width to give the project the attention it deserves. Those in atten-



40    ANNUAL Y E ARBOOK

dance continued to express concern that Origins ceased publica-
tion without a comparable replacement for organizing Catholic 
news as promulgated by the Vatican and national entities such as 
the USCCB. CRRA and CLA provided their regular updates for the 
group, and we are preparing to migrate our main channel of com-
munication from the Atla-RC listserv to the new Atla Communities 
forum later this year. Finally, Kathy Harty, our long-serving group 
secretary, invited members of the group to join her in developing 
a presentation of the long-awaited new edition of the Program for 
Priestly Formation to Atla.

Overall, our meeting served as a valuable time of conversation 
among the Catholic members of Atla to assess where we stood on 
various projects and we look forward to building upon these in the 
development of new initiatives.

ROUND ROBIN REPORTS

Catholic Distance University – Sr. Rebecca Abel, OSB, retired as di-
rector, but is busy traveling to Benedictine sites and helping them 
set up local archives.

Catholic Theological Union – It was noted that Melody Layton Mc-
Mahon’s passing is a great loss to the group and to Atla in general. 
She will be missed.

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary – David Morris named as new library 
director.

Mt. Angel Abbey – Victoria Ertelt retired in 2020, and Brian Morin 
was appointed the new library director.

Sacred Heart Seminary & School of Theology – Jennifer Bar-
tholomew will be retiring as library director at the end of Decem-
ber. The job is currently posted, and Kathy Harty will also send it 
to the listserv.

Saint Mary’s College of California – David Kriegh will soon be re-
ceiving his M.A. in Theology from Holy Apostles College & Semi-
nary.

St. Paul’s Seminary – Betsy Polakowski was named the new per-
manent director. Pray for her!



Denominational Group Reports  41

Left to right: Derek Rieckens, Stephanie Garrett, Stephen Sweeney, Jennifer Bar-
tholomew, Brian Morin, Jessica Boyer, Alan Krieger, Connie Song, Dora Rowe


